Summary: Buffy
jumped through the big old portal and died. This is my take on what happens to
her next.

Author's Note: I
started writing this over the summer… and quite honestly, I still am writing
it. Consequently, some of this doesn't quite
mesh with what Joss told us happened.

Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Mutant Enemy (Joss
Whedon), a wonderfully creative company whose characters I have borrowed for a
completely profit-free flight of fancy.
Kindly do not sue me, please, as I am terrified of you. Thank you.

Dedication: To my
poor, put-upon group of readers who have been waiting so dang long for me to
get off my duff and finish this.

The Other Side

Part 1

Oddly enough, Buffy thought of when she was twelve years old
and had gone scuba diving in the Caribbean with her father on a family
vacation. The sense of weightlessness,
the odd blurring of sound, the rippling of images, and the strange
hyper-awareness of each movement made her remember that experience
vividly.

Yes, dying seemed to be a lot like scuba diving, except, of
course, for the blinding white light, the electric shocks traveling through her
body, and the complete absence of any cute little fishies. In addition to those insignificant
differences, what she'd thought was mind-numbing fear at age twelve was nothing
compared to how scared she was right now.

For a split second that seemed to hold an eternity, the
slayer saw the ground rushing towards her as the portal closed and she fell
towards the earth. Bracing herself, she
prepared for the inevitable bone shattering impact, but it never came. Instead, she suddenly found herself outside
of her body, watching it land with a dull thud some twenty feet beneath
her. Almost immediately, the
surrounding landscape of Sunnydale drifted away like fog in the morning
sunlight and she found herself in the middle of a very large expanse of swirling
violet mist. Her feet appeared to be on
something solid, but looking down she saw nothing but more of the same eddying
light purple vapor.

"Um, hello? Anybody
here?" she called in alarm. Shouldn't
she be seeing a white light or a tunnel or something by now? "Anybody?"

Whirling around, Buffy was so relieved she almost felt like
laughing. "Kendra!"

"Who were you expecting?
De Easter Bunny?" the girl replied casually.

Now Buffy really did laugh.
"Only if I was Anya and thought I'd ended up in hell."

"Yes, I can imagine dat perfectly. I've never quite understood her ting about rabbits."

"You-you know Anya?
But how? By the time she came
around you were…" she stopped abruptly, not wanting to sound rude.

"Dead? It's all
right to say dat here. After all,
you're dead too, now," she paused for a moment. "Well, mostly. But to
answer your question, I keep an eye on how tings are going down der. You've
done quite a job."

It was at this point that Buffy realized something very
strange. Although she could hear Kendra
perfectly well, she had yet to see her.

"Uh, where are you?" Buffy asked with a small note of
nervousness in her voice. She'd only
been dead once before, and it hadn't been for long, so this was all very new to
her.

"Well, der seems to be a little problem. Notting to worry about. It's just dat you're still somehow connected
to de oder side, de world of de living."

"So I'm not completely dead yet?" she asked in confusion.

"No, you're dead.
Der's no question aboot dat. But
der's someting a little strange going on.
I'm not too clear on details, but I was sent to make you feel more
comfortable here. But, because of de
circumstances, since I'm completely on de oder side of the boundary of life and
death, and you're not, you can't see me.
At least, not yet."

"So, basically, I'm stuck in the waiting room of the Great
Beyond?"

There was an amused silence for a moment. "Dat's about de size of it. But around here, we call it Limbo."

"I guess seeing my mom is kind of a big no then too, huh?"
Buffy said in disappointment.

"I am sorry, Buffy, but no, she cannot come to you just
now," was Kendra's gentle reply. "But
she does send you her love. She is very
proud of you."

"Is there anybody here that I know? I mean, it's really nice talking to you
again, but I'd kind of like to be able to see somebody, if you know what I
mean. All this whirling purple stuff is
making me crave Dramamine."

"I can't stay for very much longer meself, but yes, der are
oders here. We didn't want to startle
you by having dem be de first ones to greet you, but now dat you know der is
notting here dat will harm you, dey will come forward. I am glad dat I had de chance to know you as
a friend, even if it was for a short time.
Maybe we will be able to speak again soon. Goodbye, Buffy."

The silence that followed the statement made Buffy feel even
more alone than before for a few moments.
However, as she was just beginning to wonder if Kendra had known what
she was talking about when she mentioned others, a change began to come over
her surroundings. As she watched, the
mist began to twist itself into solid shapes and take on breathtakingly
beautiful colors. Grey-green hills started to form in the distance, followed by
a vast expanse of emerald, grassy fields dotted with colorful wildflowers and
tall, graceful trees in full leaf. The
sky appeared overhead, the startlingly clear blue almost a shock, and cotton
candy clouds of snowy white drifted lazily in a warm breeze. As though in an afterthought, a river of
sparkling, clear water began to run across the meadow before her, tumbling over
rocks and making a cheerful burbling song.
A narrow stone footbridge suddenly sprang up across it, linking one half
of the field to the other.

"Well, at least Limbo is pretty," she said aloud.

Suddenly, the Slayer became aware of three indistinct
figures approaching her across the grasslands.
They were too distant to perceive clearly, but she noticed that they
appeared to be human. As they came
closer, she was able to tell that there were two women and one man. The women wore long, pastel dresses that
seemed to float in the gentle breeze and changed colors from moment to moment,
while the man, who walked between the other two, offering an arm to each, wore
an old-fashioned suit of pale gray.
Although she was able to see their clothing fairly well, their faces
remained oddly blurred. When they
reached the bridge, they stopped for a moment and appeared to have a brief
conference. Despite her intense
curiosity, Buffy was unable to hear what they were saying.

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